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Symposium on decision making process regarding medical treatment in end of life situations 30 November – 1 December 2010 Room 1, Palais de l’Europe, Strasbourg Conference organised by the Steering Committee on Bioethics (CDBI) of the Council of Europe The speakers: abstracts and biographical notes Introductory message Mr Jean Leonetti (France) Mayor of Antibes Juan-les-Pins Deputy of Maritimes Alps President of the Town Community of Sophia-Antipolis First Vice-President of the UMP Group UMP at the National Assembly Date of birth : 9 July 1948 in Marseille. Profession : cardiologist Professional carrier 1965 : Faculty of Medicine 1971 : Senior Registrar at the Faculty From 1977 to 1997 : Head of Cardiology Department, Antibes Hospital Center From 1983 to 1995 : President of the Medical Commission of Antibes Hospital Center From 1981 to 1995 : Iecturer at the Faculty of Medicine in Nice From 1983 to 1995 : Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Antibes Hospital Center Member of the Faculty Governing Board Mandates and functions (other than elective) Member of the Social Affairs Committee 2003-2004 : President of the Parliamentary Mission on end of life support and care Rapporteur for the Mission responsible for the Evaluation of the Act on Patients Rights and End of Life (22 April 2005) Rapporteur for the Mission of Information on the Revision of the Bioethics Laws Chairman of the Pilot Committee responsible for the States General on Bioethics Responsible for a Mission on the modernisation of the legislation on parental rights and rights of third parties. President of the French Hospital Federation President of the Regional Hospital Federation (Provence Alpes Cote d‘Azur) President of the Health Conference of the Territory of East Maritime Alps Author of four books : “Le principe de modération”, Michalon Editors – 2003 “Vivre ou laisser mourir”, Michalon Editors - 2004 « A la lumière du crépuscule » Michalon Editors – 2008 « Quand la science transformera l’humain », Plon Editors– 2009 2 Session 1 - Introduction Medical end-of-life decisions: conceptual clarifications and ethical implications Prof. Eugenijus Gefenas (Lithuania) Lithuanian Bioethics Committee Abstract Medical end-of-life decisions: conceptual clarifications and ethical implications The importance of medical end-of –life decisions (MELD) is understood in the context of demographic tendencies and progress in medicine that have been changing the patterns of morbidity, mortality and the mode of care provided to the dying people in the contemporary society. As many as two thirds of all dying people nowadays en- counter a contact with health care professionals. Although there is a lack of empirical data about this area of medicine and the differences in terminology used make the international comparisons somewhat problematic, it is still possible to distinguish some major types of end-of-life decision making. The most common types of the MEDL reported in the literature are a) the intensified alleviation of pain and suffering and b) withholding and withdrawal of medical treatment. Administration, supply or prescription of drugs with the explicit intention of hastening the patient‘s death, which is the most controversial practice, occupies a very small portion of the MELD as re- ported in the studies available. This is one of the reasons why we concentrate on those MELD that are most common in practice and in respect to which a consensus could in principle be reached. However, even in these cases some sensitive ques- tions can be raised. For example, what are the circumstances when the health care professionals consider withholding and withdrawal of medical treatment? Does the answer to this question depend on the type of treatment (e.g., medication, artificial nutrition or hydration) and what are the other factors that should be taken into ac- count? Is the distinction between alleviation of pain with opioids and hastening of death always easily made? Another set of sensitive questions deals with the decision makers involved and the procedures on how the decisions are shared among them. For example, is it acceptable cultural variation that in some European countries the MELD concerning competent patients are neither discussed with them nor with their relatives, which is even more prevalent practice in case of incompetent patients? The location where the MELD is made, the age of people and the cause of their death - all these factors are also shaping a particular profile of the end-of-life care. The presentation will highlight the mentioned issues which are crucial to understand an encounter between the dying patient and his or her health care professional and to facilitate the decision making conducive to human dignity and human rights. 3 Biographical notes Dr. Eugenijus Gefenas is an associate professor and director of the Department of Medical History and Ethics at the Medical Faculty of Vilnius University. He is also a chairman of the Lithuanian Bioethics Committee. Eugenijus Gefenas graduated from the Medical Faculty of Vilnius University in 1983. He obtained his Ph.D from the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law in 1993. E. Gefenas teaches bioethics at the Medical Faculty of Vilnius University and together with the colleagues from the Center for Bioethics and Clinical leadership of the Graduate College of Union University (USA) co-directs the Advanced Certificate Program in Research Ethics in Central and Eastern Europe. His international activities also include the Vice-Chairmanship of the Steering Committee on Bioethics (CDBI) of the Council of Europe the membership in the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the Eu- ropean Society for Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care. In 2007 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Association of Bioethics. The areas of his professional interest include ethical, philosophical and policy making issues related to human research, psychiatry and health care resource allocation. 4 Session 1 - Introduction Evolution of the way patients in end-of-life situations are cared for (in time and between coun- tries) Prof. Stein Kaasa (Norway) Professor, Dr. Med. Stein Kaasa, European Palliative Care Research Centre, Dept. of Can- cer Research and Molecular Medicine, NTNU,Trondheim,Norway and Dept. of Oncology, Trondheim University Hospital,Trondheim,Norway Abstract Palliative care is the active, total care of patients whose disease is non-responsive to treatment (1). End of life care is a part of palliative care according to the WHO defini- tion: it integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care, offers a sup- port system to help patients live as actively as possible until death and offers a sup- port system to help the family cope during the patient’s illness and their own be- reavement. In order to achieve optimal end of life care, some key elements have been identified by an EU ongoing project: culture, public priorities and clinical/research priorities (2,3). A common cancer disease trajectory when it is not possible to cure the patient, is first to offer the patient life prolonging treatment, and thereafter symptomatic treatment. Palliative care emcompasses all of these phases as well as end of life care. End of life care is not only an issue and a challenge for the health care system, but more so for the patient, the patient – family interaction and the society. It is expected that the health care system and the society offers a support system to help the family cope during the patient’s illness and their own bereavement. The health care system should primarily deal with symptom control and offer optimal care and facilitate (be a resource) to the family, to the patients and to the family – patient interaction. Death in the modern society is by many researchers and clinicians identified to be less visible, which may also influence the care for the dying. According to several studies, the patients want to stay at home as much as possible, and to die at home – if possible. This wish is contrasted by empirical data identifying large cross-national differences between countries in Europe with regard to place of death, in that more patients are dying at home in some countries compared to others (4). Modern medicine is expected to be evidence based. National and international guide- lines are devloped based upon the best available evidence according to the medical literature. The European Palliative Care Research Collaborative (EPCRC) is in the process of developing European guidelines for the treatment and care of pain, cachexia and depression (5)(6). The basis for cancer pain treatment for the last couple of decades has been the WHO pain ladder (7). As a follow-up on this ladder approach, the European Associa- 5 tion for Palliative Care (EAPC) has developed guidelines based upon expert opinions (8). New guidelines are emerging from the EPCRC and EAPC. The ultimate goal for end of life care nationally and internationally (as a European basis) should be to offer the patients optimal care, including symptom control and access to in-patient care when needed. However, the main place of death should be the patient’s home and the health care system – independent of country – should be organised in order to reach this goal. References: (1) WHO: http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/ (2) Sigurdardottir KR, Haugen D, Van der Rijt C, Sjøgren P, Harding R, Higginson I, et al. Clinical priorities, barriers and solutions in end-of-life cancer care re- search across Europe. Report from a workshop. European Journal of Cancer 2010;46(10):1815-22. (3) PRISMA http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/medicine/depts/palliative/arp/prisma/news/ (4) Cohen J, Houttekier D, Onwuteaka-Philipsen B, Miccinesi G, Addington-Hall J, Kaasa S, et al. Which Patients With Cancer Die at Home? A Study of Six European Countries Using Death Certificate Data. Journal of Clinical Oncolo- gy.